Expert Meeting for Africa Diplomacy: "We Must Broaden the Base of Africa Diplomacy"

Over 20 Experts Attend, Conducted in Brainstorming Format

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 12th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held the "13th Domestic Africa Experts Meeting" to explain the current status of various Africa-related support and cooperation projects promoted by the Ministry amid the COVID-19 situation, and to listen to opinions from experts across various fields on the future direction of diplomacy toward Africa.

Presided over by Ko Kyung-seok, Director of the Africa and Middle East Bureau, the meeting was attended by about 20 experts including officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Korea-Africa Foundation, major universities, research institutions, and private organizations related to Africa. The discussion was conducted in a brainstorming format, allowing free expression and exchange of opinions without limiting to specific fields regarding the future direction of diplomacy toward Africa.

Director Ko emphasized, "Even amid the COVID-19 situation, we are striving to maintain exchanges with African countries by actively utilizing non-face-to-face diplomacy," and added, "Our government's COVID-19 response support targeting African countries is contributing not only to the health sector but also to overall Korea-Africa cooperation."

Participants agreed that diplomacy toward Africa should efficiently utilize limited diplomatic resources while being conducted within the framework of win-win cooperation between Korea and Africa. They also mentioned the necessity of promoting differentiated approaches by African regions along with cooperation in various fields such as health, environment, agriculture, digital, youth, and startups. Furthermore, they suggested expanding the foundation of Africa diplomacy by fostering Korea-friendly and Africa-friendly personnel as well as regional experts on Africa.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, "We plan to actively utilize the opinions gathered from experts at this meeting in promoting diplomacy toward Africa, and to continuously develop our Africa policy through similar opportunities for opinion collection in the future."

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